Quick Links: Pharma Phollies Edition

Image by robotson via Flickr   Pushing Prescriptions: A Record Year for the Pharmaceutical Lobby in ’07 (Center for Public Integrity) Doctors Say Medication Is Overused in Dementia (NY Times) Drug-Resistant High Blood Pressure on the Rise (NY Times) Study: Medication Problems Cause 12% of ER Visits (Wall Street Journal Health Blog) One Drug, Many …

NY Times Reports on Cases of Autism & Illness via Vaccination

Last weekend, federal health officials convened a panel of experts to review a case in which a nine year old girl developed autism after getting a series of vaccinations. But as the New York Times recently reported, there’s an even more troubling case that’s being ignored: On Jan. 11, a 6-year-old girl from Colorado received …

Recommended Reading: Choosing to Care, Bipolar Vogue, How We Walk Wrong & Reconnecting with Yourself

Why Bother? (NY Times) Global warming is real and happening, with so many causes that it seems there’s nothing we can do as individuals to help our environment heal. Apathy is the easy choice – until you read Michael Pollan’s encouraging essay on why our choices matter – environmentally and just plain mentally – even …

Quick Links: Oral Piercing Problems, Organic Food Quality, Compact Fluorescent Bulb Safety & More Pharma Phollies

Warning for Teens: Teeth and Jewelry Don’t Mix (Science Daily) Is Organic Food Really Healthier? (Earth Land Journal, via Alternet) Are Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs Dangerous? (Scientific American) Key Opinion Leaders: Independent Experts of Drug Representatives in Disguise? (BMJ) 6/24 Addendum – Re: the SciAm article on fluorescent lightbulbs, Dr. Verigin adds, If mercury is that …

The FDA’s 180: Be Concerned about Mercury in Dental Amalgam Fillings

From the San Jose Mercury News: Two years ago, Dr. David Biles videotaped a string of patients in his Santa Cruz dental office talking about what happened after he removed their mercury amalgam fillings. All of them reported they felt healthier; they said symptoms such as pain, high blood pressure and bleeding gums went away. …

Stat!: Is the Standard American Diet Sickening?

Percentage of disposable income spent on food in the U.S. in 1984: about 15 Percentage spent on health care: about 9 Percentage spent on food in 2004: less than 10 Percentage spent on health care: 16.2 Source: Oil and Food Don’t Mix (Salon)

Big Pharma, Big Medicine

It wasn’t enough for Big Pharma to pitch its poisons directly to consumers (DTC ads), hoping that they’d insist on prescriptions, whether they were appropriate or not. Now they’re marketing medical devices DTC-style, starting with stents. Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis provide a good discussion of the issue at Health Beat, reporting on a May …

Follow-up: Lead in Dental Work

Thanks to Valerie at Creative Arts Dental Lab for sending us this link to a terrific Good Morning America story (with video) on the problems of lead in outsourced dental restorations. Is There Lead in Your Dental Work?: Dental Work Made in China Might Contain Lead For more on dental restorations, including the types we …